Gemstar defeated over TV patents

27 November 2009
|

James Nurton, London

A judge in London’s Patents Court has invalidated three European patents owned by Gemstar, in a decision that could have wide-ranging implications for TV companies that use electronic programming guides (EPGs)

In a decision on November 26, Mr Justice Mann
found the patents invalid on various grounds after Gemstar
asserted them against cable TV company Virgin Media.

Gemstar, which has
licensed its patents widely in the media industry, sued Virgin
in January 2008 and the case was heard over four weeks in June
and July this year.

Two of the three patents
were found to consist of unpatentable subject matter, in line
with previous UK court cases on computer-implemented
inventions, such as those involving Macrossan, Aerotel and
Symbian.